N4T Investigators: 911 call in former UA dean alleged sex assault

Tucson – The News 4 Tucson Investigators have obtained the 911 call regarding the sexual assault allegedly committed by Jesse Bootman, the former dean of the UA College of Pharmacy. The tape was obtained after we filed a public records request. The request was originally denied,. KVOA-TV filed a motion to obtain the tape, maintaining it should be part of the public record. Earlier this week the motion was granted.

The call was made shortly after 8 a.m. on Oct. 3rd, 2015 by a registered nurse at La Paloma Urgent Care.

“I need to report an assault that happened at La Encantada,” the nurse begins. With the nurse is a woman who is obviously injured.

The 911 dispatcher asks what kinds of injuries the woman has. The nurse replied, “It’s a questionable physical assault, she may have a broken nose. But, uh, a probable sexual assault, too.”

The 44-year old woman was at a restaurant in the La Encantada shopping center the previous night when she ran into Jessie Bootman, 65 years old, then the dean at the UA College of Pharmacy.

911 dispatcher: “Was it someone she knows?”

RN: “I think it is an acquaintance. She was at a restaurant last night, had a few drinks, remembers walking to the parking lot. Doesn't remember anything after that. And woke up with no clothes on at the person's house.”

911 dispatcher: “Alright, we'll get a deputy over there.”

Tests at Tucson Medical Center showed the woman had a broken nose and other injuries. Bootman was charged with five felonies, including sexual assault, giving the woman a dangerous drug, and kidnapping. He's pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The News 4 Tucson Investigators have obtained a copy of Grand Jury testimony in which a detective testified he heard Bootman say the couple did not have sex. But Bootman's attorneys in the civil and criminal cases wrote that they did have consensual sex.

Bootman and his lawyers have declined interview requests due to a gag order.

One of Bootman’s lawyers said in a recent court hearing the alleged victim lacks credibility because she's given two versions, telling the urgent care nurse she blacked out in the mall parking lot, and telling detectives she passed out in Bootman's home.

Separate from the 911 call, there's another development in this case. The alleged victim has been denied access to a portion of her own rape kit, and her attorney in the civil case is furious.

Attorney Bill Walker said, “It's a bad decision, it's a decision that speaks against rape victims in this community, and I have no idea why it's been denied.”

Walker is suing Bootman on the alleged victim's behalf in the civil case. Due to the gag order, imposed by Pima County Superior Court Judge Scott Rash, Walker says he has not been able to obtain a crucial part of the rape kit results.

“All we're asking for,” Walker said, “is that she be given the results of her blood test and her urine test that might help to prove that she was drugged. The prosecutor has this, the sheriff has it.”

Judge Rash did not respond to our request for comment.

The transcript from Grand Jury testimony in the criminal case shows a detective with the sheriff's department saying tests showed the alleged victim tested positive for Zolpidem, another name for the sleeping pill, Ambien. Walker wants to get the lab report that's being denied him so he can show it to a jury in the civil case.

Walker said, “We have other avenues to go. And I can assure you, I can guarantee you, sitting here across from you, that we will get it.”

A spokesman for the UA said the university removed Bootman from his position as dean last year and that he is on paid administrative leave, receiving his faculty salary of $253,263. The criminal trial is scheduled to start in February. No date has been set for the civil trial.

If you have a story you'd like us to investigate, email us at investigators@kvoa.com or call our tip line at 520-955-4444.